Beverage cooling cabinet of dry air type



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Im, w, 195@ L. WEISS BEVERAGE COOLING CABINET OF DRY AIR TYPE Filed June2, 1947 FlCS.

N VEN TOR z ou/5 WE/ss H A TTORNE Y Patented Jan. 10, 1950 einem Louis.Weiss, Louis,.Mo..

Application June 2;.1947; seria-mbz rsigtr I This invention relates toimprovements. in bev.- eragecooling, cabinets of.- dry air: typa. and.more particularly to. so.ca11ed= bottle` coolers;y such' as dispensing.cabinets,v from which cooled bottled products maybe-served to-the.consumingT trade, and-.inxwhich the; bottles .are cooled by a stream of.air, in distinction fromtmany of thetypes of coolerswhich. the bottles.-are submerged. or. otherwise :cooled bydirectcontact: with-a chillingliquid..

The; present developments ner-tainv to. dry coolers-. in.- view of the.recognized; disadvantages ot utilizationiof SQ-called-Wetbottlecoolersor those in. wloichv-Y the bottles are chilled. liquid im.Vmersion.. Heretoore, inl the. dry. type4 o bottle, coolers generallyavailable tof the. trade, many; difficulties have beenexperienced,particularly. in a.,marked inequality of. coolingratesirrdierentportions of the enclosure. or. cabinet.. Eurther.- more,in many. commercial. types i of. structure for this purpose, it.v hasbeen dicultV properly to.- chill the. bottles. of, beverage relatively.freshly, intro,- duced to thecabinet. Incertaintynes. this dif'.- cultyhas been. overcome in some degree,r but only by necessitating-Withdrawal. for. service, those bottles which. are.. diicultly onremotely accessible. tothe operator.. Eurther prevailingdiicnlties.-ineludeincident to various attempts at' quick chilling ofair ow,..a.low. temperature cooling coil. and frequent.. defrosting..require- I.

ments.. requiring frequenti outfofffservice. periods.- It accordingly..a. maior. objective. oi the inE vention toiovercome each otliedifculties noted; and to attain a` design. of. bottlefserving. cabinetin.` which the. most accessible. bottles. are thorv l oughly.chilled..andiinlwhich,.,in a compartmented stru cture,..alll ofl thebottles in the seyeralicoinf.- partments are. virtually uniformlycooled;

A further and important obiective oi the. in.- vention is. attained. in,an organization. for, the. purpose. notedgJin. whiclris.. contained.' a-L novel. ar.- rangement'l of i ain-circulating; and.A airfflow. con:-t'roL elements such asV to: conduce., to.. substantial uniformity of,bottleA cooling. in the lseyeral.. bottle. containing` regions on thecabinet.. `An. additional" major. object. is attained. ina. novel..arrangement: of; cooling; .coil,.utilized in; the. present example, to..cool a stream. of. air.; with the latter inturn, cooling the. bottlesinthe/sev. eral. bottle. compartments;l

A further objective realizedinanoveliorm. of. cooling. unit. in..which;a number of. turns. of tubingaresoiormedendassembled.as tonrovide.alzigzag orsomewhatesinucusscourse on ain flow.- fhmilslsthe 'masses-eos@me @if the. Minehead..

IZ Glaims.` Chim-1.02)..

l' in which. the flow es cooling uqam; erfreuen the.

tubing, on the? coiiif issn related-iter.-

iowrof air transversingy the? 0011;. that the? Warmerencountersrtheecoel'enportionssofitnefcooling uniti Stated.r moreparticularly' in: reierence;l tof thet assembly.T to: bei describedg.thee improvements; clude: anoveb arrangementen air -bafilesfso llmazter4Withinf. thee path: of. movement'V as: uniformlyv to.` distribute andiproportion tine components:l of tliez-V streamz'otr eenling; aintogfand: througtn the several bottle containing regions or; compartements'of the 'Ine'l arrangement-ref. cooling? ducts; air inrpellen" andvparte.1 they cabinet? are further obs jectivel-y suoi-r; to obyiatedefrostingg. andi fuir-` therY sucir. asf to'A minimize interchange` oirroom airandcooled.;airfsuc'liLas, would otherwise: occur tl'frrougli.xa'. service4 opening off thef cabinet.

Theioregoingr and numerousnther objectswill` moreK clearly/appear from:the` following: detailed. description: oft a; selectedr exemplary,embodiment ottheinvention, particularly: when considered" in connection`witliw. the accompanying; drawing.. in which? Fig.lisfaiviewrtakenialongstaggeredrvertical planesilongi-tudinallyroftheecabinet, `certain-parts being shown innsefction;` Fig-1; 2 isalsectionalvv view afs-:taken along* ventircallyV staggered horizontalplanes.- througn. the

. cabinet assembly? embodying: present improve-A mentsg. and

Fig: 3f is ai verticalLtransvers-eor fore and@A aft sectionaif viewtalseminwardly* off. onen of' the end walls of thecabineftIthefsectionalrportions oFi-gf: l'. being-located? byfline.x I-lx of.Eig. 3; and: tliose identifying-Fig. 2;.by'linee 2f-2`fof Fig. 3';

Reterringinowfhyfcharactersfof: referencefto the drawing;thescabinetrenclosnre on box: per se; bei off usual or` conventionalaconstruction except'for'presentiinternalifeatnresrandincludesfa;relaitively flongfrearwallami; a-urelatively=A longs parallel.l frontgW-allv Aand appositaendrvval-ls-l Iz and |r3-.

b ottom completen... with?l the: topl tor be de.- scribed, theaenelosmter. ofi' the-fbox. The topV errclosure-isacompletedrbyam upperledge: |15? angle? portion. L6: may',A be. providledfv writh glazedsliding; doors'. |11 maematingy infguidesf' is,infanysuitableeorconventimaallmannen..

The."- front,y reen. end.. and.. bottom.virali.l elements of?the-.cabinet-mayrbei assis preferredii doublethicknessftcrpronidecanensulationsipaceeill 'I3-his mayriffdesired^,.,consi,stvof aniairinsulation.l space.. or mayA as. ccntairna. fibrous: or other. thermal-insulatingf-matenial:(notlshown)... A-

There @mended-.ini the Sabine# a. @Utiles-f fined by a suitable metalenclosure, formed for example, of sheets 22, and is so arranged that thecooling compartment bridges the front and rear walls l and ll, andserves to contain a cooling element such as a coil, later to bedescribed. A powered air impeller is exemplied by a propellertype fan 23driven as by an electric motor M, and is supported by a suitable bracket24. The fan and motor assembly is preferably located in the upperportion of the cooling coil compartment, over and to which is connectedan elbow 25 serving as an outlet throat, as will appear, for thedischarge stream from fan 23. The elbow member 25 is tightly connectedto an air supply duct 26, shown as being of rectangular section; threesides of which are dened as by sheet metal elements 21, but leaving openor provided with outlet openings (not indicated), the bottom portion ofthis duct. This may be, as is preferred, closed by a suitable wide meshwire guard grill or the like, indicated at 3B. Metal lath or the likehas been found highly satisfactory for this purpose. It will be notedthat the supply duct 26 opens downwardly into a reach-in space orcompartment 3|, deiined by the back, top and front wall of the cabinet,and extending below and forwardly of the supply duct, the latter beinglocated along the rear wall and preferably in the uppermost region ofthe cabinet, extending length- Wise thereof.

The lower portion of the box is, as shown, of substantially rectangularshaping and serves to contain the bottles B reposing in the cabinet forcooling purposes, and usually awaiting service to the trade. The bottlecompartments proper may be considered to be of the height of theadjacent return air duct 32. Similarly to the duct 26, three sides ofthis portion of the return duct are constituted by usual sheet metalelements such as 33 and 34, and one side being open adjacent thebottles, the latter side being of a relatively onen construction andguarded as by a large mesh screen, for example, a grill of metal lath 35similar to the closure 30 of duct 26. The return air duct extendsthrough the cabinet in a direction generally parallel to the supplyduct, and the end of the return duct opposite wall I3, opens into thelower portion of the cooling coil compartment 2 l It will now haveappeared that there is set up what is virtually a closed path aircirculating system, thedirection of movement of the air stream thereinbeing indicated by the arrows in the several figures of drawing.

It will be understood as not strictly essential that the cooling coilcompartment be located at one end of the cabinet. In larger size units,two of the systems of supply and return ductsv may be located so as tobe supplied from and return air to a compartment such as 2l, which insuch case (not shown) would be located, for example, centrally of alonger or larger cabinet.' Such an arrangement being essentially aduplication of structure thus far described, becomes evident withoutfurther description or illustration.

i For the purpose of promoting uniformity of cooling effect in thedifferent bottle containing regions of the cabinet, several furtherexpedients have been devised and have been found by experience,virtually to assure uniform cooling of the bottles throughout theassembly. Such provisions include a series of graduated ballles each ofwhich is shown as transversely bridging4 the duct 2B; these are 'shownin section (Fig. l) and one is indicated at 4I, being the smallestbaille in area,

located most proximate the cooling coil to be described, and the fan 23,hence being of least area. Slightly and progressively larger bailles 42,43, 44 and 45 are employed in spaced relation along the supply air duct.Each of these presents a downwardly curved air-deecting surface (Fig. l)and each of the baffles numbered 4l through 45 is located substantiallycentrally above a corresponding bottle compartment therebelow, thelatter being designated at 46, 47, 48, 49 and 50 in the order of theirremoteness from the cooling coil housing 2l. These compartments may beconsidered as defined at one side by the grid or guard 35; at theopposite side or end by the rear wall l0, and laterally bounded by aseries of transverse partitions each designated at a plurality or someof these partitions are, by preference for best results, but not ofstrict necessity, extended upwardly above the bottle compartment proper,so as to provide balles 56. These, for economy and convenience ofproduction, are virtually extensions of the partitions 55 which thus areof varying heights and areas with the largest and highest thereoflocated most proximate the cooling coil compartment 2i, as suggested byFig. l. It will appear that, as the velocity of flow through duct 26decreases toward its most remote end, the successive baiiles will servein progressively greater degree, to deflect downwardly the streams ofcooled air therefrom. Similarly, the progressively reduced bales (inarea from left to right, Fig. 1) will serve decreasingly to obviateshort circuiting effects, and thus will tend to equalize the flow of airfrom the supply duct downwardly and across the compartment 3l and intothe several bottle compartments, thence outwardly through the returnduct 32. Experience in actual usage has borne out the effects noted, andhas resulted in the present arrangement.

A further and advantageous feature of the air circulation agencies andthe box construction, arises from the location of the supply duct andreturn duct respectively at top and bottom of the cabinet interior, andalso adjacent opposite sides of the cabinet, whereby the air stream iscompelled to traverse the box relatively completely, and to cover,without voids in the bottle stacks, all of the useful cooling spacewithin the several bottle compartments.

A still further advantage has been arrived at by virtue of thearrangement of parts and the flow circuit described. It will best appearfrom Fig. 3, that a line connecting the centers of ducts 26 and 32 willsubstantially parallel the plane of the access opening identiiied as tolocation, with the sliding doors l1. From this it will now be understoodthat the relatively rapid movement of air across the reach-in or dooropening, tends to minimize the heat losses which otherwise would occurthrough interchange of air between the interior and exterior of the box.The arrangement has been referred to as a balanced draft design, and itsfunction is such that, due to velocity of air flow from supply to returnduct, very little actual heat loss occurs through the reach-in opening.vThis is of importance not only as con-l ducing to eiiiciency, since thedoors are frequently open for great lengths of time during periods ofactive bottle service, but also tends toward still further uniformity oftemperature of the bottles and contents as served.

A further distinct advantage in service usage of the arrangementdescribed, will become `apparent when it is considered that as is usualin commercial utilization of a cabinet of this type,

academia the partial depletion bottless from; thervarioum compartments'Gite-50,1 necessitates;r replacement or thebottlesltherein',bymelatirely warmen bottles.- f-rom cases, etc:v at: room; on highertermA perature; It should bel-'importantly'notedr that:`the-'makeupbottlesfwill' normally'fbe; addedt on topfw of thoseremaining in each. compartment.. Ity will nowv appear. that. suchrelatively' warmer bottles; are, by. virtue of. this` arrangement,yexe-- posedtol the.l coolen portionsi of. the air streann 1.o;circulating through. the.4 cabinet,` and-l thus Willi: befre'latively`quickly chilled; with; marked adi/aneA tage in. servioeftor` the trade;

Referring. now moreparticularly to; ai preferred; formx of; cooling;ooil,. and its makeup.. assembls,y T55 andrelation to therelementsfearlier described; ,thee coil; is. generally f indicated` at558:. and; cons-ists;` on ai pluralitmshown: asffour, oi superposed;bankstel? groups-Sil, 62; andfz Thee-tubing fxltlrinzeaolizr bank. or'group is of coursef continuous, and: isa formed into a series; of turnsfromright.' tozlef'itfv (-l'ig: 1J and from'end-tofend of the-bank.(-I'ig. 29g.. each bank beinggprovidedzwith end connections.Thexlowermost such: bank; di.: is. supplied with; as. cooling. orreirigerating; liquid througlr aconnecetion 65; (Fig. 2)and-.theuppermostbank-improvided-w-ith the return or.- outletconnection't't, .thee banks beingk relatedinseries from:botton1 totopiior the assembly Swithin the coolingduct; It contemplated-that thefunit:'ifconsist of; arr-crap orator-A supplied, for. exampla, from: suitableAcompressor-condenser.-evaporatory system, mot; shownA sinceY notmaterial to,l presentimprove? ments it; being. however,A umierstoozdthat; coil: B10-may bezsupplied withla cooling: liquid. encinas?- brine,water or'thelike;,from-anysuitable sources..

Eur-ther'to describe--the-makeup oicoiili355;.itiwil-lzfy be observedfrom` the comparisonoi Figs.: 111 2- that, as: viewed endwise, each.'ofi the-banks; apipea-rs substantially asin-Eig, l; as.viewedside.-Iwise, each such bankis of agenerallwoval' shapecharacterized.- by.rounded; end: turns; and intere# vening horizontal,l linear: passes. oftubing; forming up each of; thefbanksftheftubing thereof:F is =soarranged'thatits successivewturns aresspiralf.- ly related, andifurther. sorthat the upperrlinea pass of each. turn.- is displacedin-.ai horizontali di?v rection, slightly from its companion linearpassi; in the. same-turner convolution. From this it results that in thesuccessive banks Eil-64 in the order encountered bythe air streamupwardly throughcompartment 2i, the-air stream-.is com pelled to pursuea series of sinuous or zig-zag paths through the open spaces betweensuccessive convolutionslof the series of vertically arranged banks. Eachturn of tubing within each bank,.is located ataslight acute angleto-.vanadj aeenti'verticalplane; and hence is biasedrto the general path ofairflow through the coilll The speed of motor vZlieand;ian-23;' ispreferably so regulated in relation to the flow of refrigerant orcooling uid through the coil B0, that, under normal conditions of usageand under average humidity conditions, there will occur no appreoiablefrost deposit on even the coldest of the banks oi the cooling coil. Thisconduces to continuity of service and greatest einciency, withminimization of the out-of-service periods usually incident todefrosting.

It will now have appeared that the improvements as described serve fullyto attain each oi' the several objectives hereinabove expressly stated,and numerous others implied from the description of parts, arrangementsand purposes. Although the invention has been described by making?explicitL referenceY to: an singles -seleeted embodiment, the detail ofdescnptionzissto:'bez-un-.fiA der-stood solelyrasfillustratve andznotzaerestrictivee inasmuch; aa many variants are possible: within: the?intendeelcscopei or, the` claims; hereunto-l appended.`

lclaimi asf mieinvention:

In .a1 beverage-cooling:cabinet. oie: dry, circo-alatinge afir.- type..a; bore structure haa/fing?. se topf an1- gle opening, and;ciosuresiproyiding; wheniopeng. for' accessf too ther. interior.' 0.1irthefhoig., anair'sup' ply duct. in; theiuppermost-portion1ofthefb'oxgandi backmf said:openingssecond duct substantiall-yf parallelittherst said: ducha-nd located in: the; lowemnostpartloh theebox andiadjacent the; wall? thereof oppositeftheerstfsaick duct,v a coolingcoilf, across which air is adaptedto be passed inthe@ course?ofcircul'ation. thnoughthefducts and the interi'orof:thexbom. a fantin;the duet assembly yformoving aizt therethrough and: through the boze.and; partitions-4 acrossf; the-1interiorfofbonv and. in:planear-substantially:attright anglestto saidf ducts.;

2. The combination and arrangement of cles-- ments 4as recited: byvclaimt 11;., but: further particu- :flarzedantnaetnefcuers@anc'bnxfaremutually ses.

arrange di as, to create: as flow of.' cooling? air f' a'cross: andvdownwardiy'othespace -withinttheabom 3; In. as cooler: fon bottled:beverages; a. cabinetV enclosureforming. a spaceiforthe reception orbctt- :ifY tlesiwhile:beingco'oledfon servinggan ain-supply;

ductlto ythebottlespace, aireturnzduct communi".- cating with thebottle: space, ai cooling'coil comi--r partmentl connectedAbetween-s-'aidf ducts, aiV

cooling coil? assemblyA in the l lastl said. comparta nient',A the coilVassembly: comprising' apllirality or? superposed interconnected banks ofcooling. coil-sil.

each of saidibanks-being of'agenerally oblong formf as' Viewed' in'-vertical1 planes A and"Y` consisting ments as recitedl by claim 3- butfurther charac-A terizedin that eachf ofith'e lturnsof tubing'ineach-`lof the individual banksv thereof, isr located at ai slight acuteangle*tothe'vertical; andE tothe path of the airl stream impelledthrough the several TheY combinationandrv arrangement' ofA ele#I ments`as' recited" by` claim 3" but' further' charac:- terized'l in thatthe'several banks' o'tubin'g constitut'ngthe' co'olin'g'c'oil`v assembly,arev` connected" in series relationandyare'so disposedthat' a normal-"-ly` cooler vportionY of the coil' assembly is. rst engage'd by" the.relatively wanner current o fv` air. traversing the ductsystem' andboXg.. l

6.v In abottle cooler cabinet' assemblyfof dry air type), a cabinet"of.' elongate topf-open, reach-in` type, a plurality of'partitionscoacting with the cabinet, walls to dene bottle spaces in the cabinet,the cabinet walls forming a compartment above the partitions throughwhich the bottle spaces are accessible, a cooling unit and ducts in thecabinet including a supply duct extending lengthwise of the cabinet andin the upper portion of the said compartment, and a return duct leadingfrom the lower portions of the several said bottle spaces, the ductsbeing located to be supplied with air from the cooling unit, an airimpeller in the line of ow of air through the ducts and cooling unit,and a series of bailles in the line of flow of air through the top duct,each of said baffles beingv located to direct a stream of cooled airdownward- 7. l'y'into, and substantially centrallyl of one of the bottlecompartments.

7. In a beverage cooling cabinet for bottled products and the like, anelongate enclosure, a cooling coil compartment in the enclosure, acooling coil therein, ducts extended along opposite walls of theenclosure, one in the upper portion thereof for supplying cooled air atvarious points along the space within the enclosure, and a second ductextended along an opposite wall and in the lower region of theenclosure, the ducts communicating with the cooling coil compartment,air impelling means serving said ducts and coil compartment, and aplurality of partitions dening bottle spaces within a lower portion ofthe enclosure, the partitions being of graduated height and area.

8. The combination and arrangement of elements as recited by claim 7 butfurther characterized in that the partition of greatest height and areais located nearer that end of the cooled air supply duct nearest thecooling coil compartment.

9. In a beverage cooler of circulating air type;

10. The combination and arrangement of elements as recited by claim 9,but further characterized in that the said baffles are of graduatedarea, with the baille of least area being located most proximate to thesource of cooling air and the largest said baille spaced most remotelyfrom the source of cooled air, and in which each of the plurality ofbottle compartments is substantially centralized with respect to an airstream directed thereto by one of said bailies.

11. In an air cooling assembly adapted for use in a beverage coolingcabinet or the like, a cooling coil compartment and a cooling coilassembly therein, a blower for moving air through the coil assembly, thecoil assembly comprising a number o f turns of tubing arranged in aseries of banks, each of said banks consisting of a series of lengths ofspirally wound tubing, the tubing in each bank being characterized inthat each full turn thereof is sloped slightly with respect to the lineof air flow in traversing the coil assembly and so arranged that a majorlength of the tubing in each bank extends primarily across an air streamto be cooled thereby, with corresponding tubes of the several Y Numberadjacent banks successively engaged by the air stream, relativelyvertically staggered, the arrangement being such that the successivelyencountered banks of tubing present a horizontally staggered, verticallyspaced succession of tubes encountered in turn by the air stream movingthrough the assembly.

12. In a beverage cooling box of air circulating type, adapted for thecooling of bottles of beverages or the like, an elongate insulated boxor cabinet having a sloping surface along its forward upper margin, withsaid surface provided with an access opening, doors therefor, a coolingcoil compartment transversely bridging opposite walls of the cabinet,cooling coils in said compartment, a fan in said compartment, a coolingair supply duct extended from said compartment and thence along anuppermost portion of the rear wall of the cabinet, the duct havingopenings directed downwardly into the cabinet, a return duct extendedlengthwise of the cabinet and along the lowermost portion of a wallthereof opposite that adjacent the supply duct, the cooling coilcompartment interconnecting said ducts, a plurality of banks of coolingcoils in the compartment therefor, each bank composed of a series ofhelically arranged convolutions of tubing, the major portion of eachsaid convolution lying in a plane at a slight angle to the vertical, andcorresponding portions of the coils in adjacent banks as successivelyencountered by the air stream, being relatively horizontally staggeredwhereby to provide a zig-zag path of air moving through the severalbanks of coils, a plurality of baies spaced along the cabinet andarranged transversely of the line of air flow through the air supplyduct, said baies being of graduated area with the smallest thereofmostproximate to the coil compartment and fan, the lower portion of thebox being provided with a series of transverse baffles, the baillesbeing spaced to provide bottle compartments therebetween, and being ofgraduated height and area, the partitions being staggered endwise of thebox, in respect to said baffles, whereby the latter tend to directindividual air streams downwardly and substantially centrally of thebottle spaces provided by adjacent partitions.

LOUIS WEISS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofpatent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 954,598 Tompert Apr. 12, 1910 2,073,008Haschke Mar. 9, 1937 2,332,174 Shreve Oct. 19, 1943 2,439,261

Munschower Apr. 6, 1948

